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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Rare earths - Is there a substitute? |
| 2011-03-10 |
| Accessible supplies of neodymium and 16 other rare earth elements -- which occupy those two orphaned rows at the bottom of the periodic table -- are running short. China, which controls supplies of 97% of these materials, doesn't like sharing them with the West. And the only U.S. mine for rare earth elements went out of production after a radioactive waste accident in the 1990s. I didn't hear about this. Was it really that bad? Throw in the fact that rare earth elements are important to all kinds of technologies -- they're the reason smartphones vibrate, why TVs have vivid reds and greens, and how computer hard drives are able to etch data -- and you've got a recipe that scares many technologists and researchers. Hey, what's so bad about floppy drives? Hadjipanayis and the other researchers are using nanotechnology to essentially remix the recipe for today's strongest magnets. Call my mother-in-law. She can make anything out of nothing in the kitchen. Hadjipanayis said he feels like he's trying to cram 100 years' worth of work into the three years that make up his Energy Department contract. He visits the lab daily to check on the progress. He worries about the high risk involved. Oh no! No more |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #7 Didn't they find quite a few rare earths on the Moon? I do seem to remember there were significant deposits at one landing site. That would be one excellent reason to go back there. Use solar radiation for 90% of the power requirement, use the best possible means of separation in that type of environment, and ship the very small quantities needed in electronics back to Earth. I'm sure China isn't trying to get to the Moon for utopian reasons. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2011-03-10 20:54 |
| #6 It's a funny thing about pollution: it tends not to stay in one place and it doesn't respect borders. As far as substitutes go, necessity is the mother of invention. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-03-10 14:52 |
| #5 Which is why, 'Moose, the tree-huggers are so happy to have the Chinese do the pollution. Yeah, I guess it counts as "green" as long as it's in someone else's back yard. |
| Posted by: gorb 2011-03-10 13:51 |
| #4 The Chinese control 97% of production because for centuries the overwhelming bulk of REE minerals were used for coloring fireworks... |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2011-03-10 12:58 |
| #3 Which is why, 'Moose, the tree-huggers are so happy to have the Chinese do the pollution. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2011-03-10 12:34 |
| #2 In all fairness, refining various rare earths is difficult and very polluting. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-03-10 08:32 |
| #1 "China, which controls supplies of 97% of these materials" This is actually misleading. China controls 97% of production but not 97% of the deposits of them. The US has huge deposits of rare earths but EPA regulations make it nearly impossible to mine and refine them. The one US processing plant is due to go back on line soon after extensive retrofitting to meet regulations. The "radioactive waste" accident was extremely minor. The material is no more radioactive than ash from a coal power plant. If a nuclear power plant (or rare earths refining plant) emitted as much radiation as a coal power plant (due to natural uranium in the coal), they would be shut down. Its just nuts. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2011-03-10 04:01 |